The art of loading and unloading heavy payloads or equipment into and out of service vehicles generally requires the use of loading equipment and/or considerable labor on the part of a person or persons performing the load/unload operations. The pest-control service industry, among many other industries, is one example of a service industry wherein frequent loading and unloading of equipment and various payloads into and out of service vehicles takes place.
Generally speaking, trailer apparatus are well known and available in the art for facilitating vehicle towing of equipment and other relatively heavy payloads. However, for some applications, especially those involving frequent loading and unloading, trailers are inadequate for the task because of bulk and weight of the trailer and difficulties hitching and unhitching. Moreover, many types of equipment must be moved to a secondary field location after unloading, which requires, in many instances, considerable additional labor.
Typically, trucks or carts which may be pushed or towed by hand or by such as an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) are available and known in the art for transporting equipment and or a payload from a service vehicle or trailer attached thereto to a secondary field location. These devices are fairly standard and can be adapted for differing situations and loads. A problem with these sorts of carts and trucks is that typically they must be stowed somewhere with the load in the service vehicle or trailer.
As is well known in the art, trailers are hitchable to a towing vehicle using any of several known hitching methods and apparatus. A hitch is accomplished such that there is freedom of movement in both up and down direction for negotiating different terrain variations and in side-to-side direction for facilitating turning. However, because of a necessarily large wheelbase for trailers, they cannot be easily manipulated through narrow barriers such as standard gates or doors. Similarly, licensing requirements for a towable trailer necessitate a length and wheelbase dimensioning that would not cause instability in maneuvering while towing.
What is clearly needed is a utility cart apparatus with a combination of capabilities, including an ability to be carried entirely on a receiver hitch bar, an ability to be quickly loaded to and unloaded from the receiver hitch bar, and is still capable of being easily moved around a job site. Such a cart would enable loading, transport, and subsequent unloading and maneuverability of relatively heavy and, in some cases, awkwardly-positioned loads, while reducing traditional labor requirements associated with the complicated task.